


Frozen

by Kaunis_Sielu



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-11
Updated: 2017-12-11
Packaged: 2019-02-13 11:42:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 5,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12983334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaunis_Sielu/pseuds/Kaunis_Sielu
Summary: You and the team have to head up to Alaska





	1. Chapter 1

Your fingers are so damn cold, the wind whips through the trees taking some of the snow off of the ground adding to the snow from the sky that is already pelting you. You shiver, and blow warm air into your hands.   
“You okay?” Aaron asks.   
“Just cold.” You respond with chattering teeth.   
“I thought that you were from the ‘frigid north’.”   
“I am, but this is a whole different monster. This is Alaska cold Hotch.” He moves closer to you and you can’t help but smile.   
“Let’s go back.”   
“Yes!” You cheer softly. Hotch laughs and you hurry over to the snowmobile that the two of you had ridden out on together. Despite growing up in the north you never learned how to drive a snowmobile. Thankfully you were riding behind Hotch and were able to use him as a shield against the wind. The two of you both strap on helmets and get on the snowmobile. It was a pretty quick ride, which in your opinion was a bummer. You liked have your arms wrapped around the hot agent. When you get back to the cabin you practically have to peel yourself off of Hotch you’re so frozen.   
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Hotch asks looking at you as you pull the helmet off.   
“So. Cold.” You mutter through frozen lips.   
“Come on. Let’s get you inside.” He leads you into the cabin that has been rented for the team, it’s more like a lodge than a cabin. Six bedrooms, four bathrooms a kitchen and living room. When Hotch turns on the lights he looks over at you in alarm.  
“How wet is your coat?”  
“What?”  
“I think you’re hypothermic. Your lips are blue. Why didn’t you say anything?”   
“I didn’t feel that cold.” He feels your coat then unzips it. He yanks his own coat off and then his sweater.   
“Put this on.” He commands yanking your coat off of you and passing you his sweater. You do ask he says with clumsy fingers, his sweater is warm from his body heat and it smells like him. He heads to his room and reemerges with two thick blankets and another hat. He pulls the hat onto your head and then pulls the blanket around the pair of you. You curl into Hotch, he’s so warm. How are you still so cold? There are two blankets on you, one wrapped around your and Hotch’s shoulders and the other lays on your laps. The heat coming off of him is astounding, like he’s the only warmth in the room. Which isn’t true, there’s the fire roaring in the fireplace and an electric heating system but somehow it’s the heat coming off of him that is doing the most good. He’s got to be cold. All he is wearing is his long sleeve now that you’re wearing his sweater but all he seems to be worried about is you.   
“How are you feeling?” He asks rubbing warmth back into your fingers.   
“Still a little cold but better.” You answer honestly it doesn’t do any good to lie to him. The door swings open and in tromp Rossi and Reid.   
“Hurry and shut the door!” Hotch calls from beside you as the wind whips into the room.   
“What’s going on?” Rossi asks smirking down at the two of you.   
“It’s fucking cold out there.” Comes your muffled reply and Rossi laughs.   
“Is she hypothermic?” You hear Reid ask.   
“Yea.” Hotch responds.   
“I’ll make some tea. Get her core warm first. Fingers and toes should be last to warm up.” Reid comments noticing your hand wrapped in Hotch’s.  
“Tea sounds amazing Spence.” You mutter from under the blankets. You’re starting to feel drowsy from not only the long trip but also the warm cocoon you’ve been wrapped in.   
“You two need anything else?” Rossi asks.   
“A heated blanket and to stay inside until spring.” You say and Rossi chuckles then heads into his own room to change into dry clothes. After Reid gets the tea kettle on the stovetop he to heads off to change. Rossi and Reid had to share a room, you had pulled straws and the two of them as well as you and JJ had pulled the short ones. Everyone else had their own rooms, it was much better than last time you had been told. Last time they were in Alaska everyone had to double up, and not in twin beds like you had here.


	2. Chapter 2

The rest of the team files in not long after Rossi and Reid. Morgan had gone with the sheriff to see the other dump site while Blake and JJ had gone to meet with the medical examiner.   
“That. Looks amazing.” JJ says when she sees your little blanket fort and tea in your hands.   
“Which part? The tea or the blankets?” Blake asks shrugging off her coat.   
“Both.”  
“The kettle is still hot if you want some JJ.” Reid says from the armchair he has dropped into.   
“Are those blankets from our room?” JJ asks you.   
“No. Hotch’s.” You respond after a sip of tea.   
“Good. I’m going to use one from our room and have me some of that tea.”  
“I can get it ready for you JJ. Alex you want any?” Reid says standing and putting his thick novel aside.  
“Sure. Thanks Reid.” Blake smiles at him, she slips into her own room to get into dry clothes.   
“So what happened here?” Derek asks sitting down on the couch beside you.   
“Hypothermia.” You grudgingly admit, you know what’s coming. Some crack about you being from the frozen tundra.   
“I thought you were the ice queen.” He flashes you a smile.   
“This is not normal cold Morgan.” You squint at him in mock annoyance. “This is hell-has-frozen-over cold. This is arctic circle cold. I’m so sorry I don’t have so many muscles to keep me warm.” You and Morgan basically live to sass one another and it amuses Rossi to no end. You feel Hotch move slightly so it’s easier for you to lean back and rest against his warmth, you do, liking the feeling of him literally having your back. The next time you see JJ she is wrapped in one of the blankets from your room. Reid passes her a mug and she drops down on the floor in front of his chair. Alex receives her mug from Reid moments later and she joins Rossi on the other small couch. The group of you go over what you’ve learned and fill in Garcia. She hadn’t made the trip this time around and you thought she’d won on that front. The satellite phones are reliable enough here that Hotch didn’t feel like the analyst was needed. With the lack of press you were somewhat surprised that he still wanted you to come with to be honest. When you all head to bed a few hours later the snow is still falling and the wind is screaming past the cabin. It’s enough to make you shiver just thinking about the windchill. When you go to peel off Hotch’s sweater he waves you off.   
“Keep it until morning.” You nod, dragging your feet to your room you see JJ is already sound asleep. You change quickly, how do people survive in this state, it’s too damn cold. You pull Hotch’s sweater back on, it’s so warm and comfortable that you can’t resist. You know you’re going to get cold when you sleep and you’re too exhausted to want to get up. You curl up under the covers and fall asleep almost instantly, the whole team has ways of avoiding jet lag but when you go from east to west coast it always seems to catch up with you.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning you’re up early. JJ beats you to the little bathroom so you go out to the kitchen to grab something to eat. The first thing you notice is how white it is outside. Looking closer your mouth drops open in horror. It’s not white out. The snow is actually so deep that it’s covered part of the window.   
“Yea we’re snowed in.” Comes Rossi’s calm voice from the living room.   
“So what is the plan? How are we getting out of here?”   
“We’re not.”  
“Excuse me?” You look over at him expecting, hoping to see that he’s joking. He’s not.   
“Hotch already got in touch with the sheriff. Most of the town is snowed in. They’ll start in the center of town and work their way out to us.”  
“That could take days!”   
“Only two.” You flop down on the couch with a groan. “You’ll be fine kiddo.” Rossi laughs then goes back to his manuscript. The rest of the team slowly trickles out of their rooms, when Morgan hears that you’re snowed in he turns back around and goes to bed. JJ decides to make a big breakfast and Alex goes to join her. You still haven’t seen Hotch or Spencer when you head off to shower. When you enter the living room for the second time you see Spencer playing himself in chess and you sit in the chair opposite him.   
“Do you know how to play?” He asks looking up at you.   
“No but I’d be willing to learn.” Reid’s face lights up and he starts setting up the board for a new game. “Remember Reid I’m not a genius so it’s going to take me a few games to catch on.”  
“Ask any questions you have. I’ll try not to beat you too quickly.” You chuckle and shake your head. The two of you are the closest in age but sometimes you can’t help but shake your head at the genius.   
“I appreciate that Spence.” He actually turns out to be a really great teacher. He’s patient and stops you when you make moves that are poor ones. Showing you where you should go instead or just waiting until you figure it out.  
Morgan emerges from his room not long after the food is done. That doesn’t surprise you, Morgan loves breakfast food. Hotch comes out of his room then too. He looks more relaxed than you’ve seen him in a while, maybe it’s the forced vacation that the group has to take.   
“Morning.” He says grabbing a plate and spearing some pancakes, “who made all this?”  
“JJ and Alex.” Rossi says, “Reid is teaching Lauren how to play chess and Morgan was sleeping.”  
“It smells fantastic.” Hotch says going for some eggs.   
“It tastes even better.” You say before a bite of hashbrowns. “I’m surprised that they had all this in that fridge.”  
“I was too.” JJ admits, “The sheriff told us that he’d fully stocked it but I didn’t realize how well it was done.”  
“Well they know what is needed for a storm like this.” Reid says reaching for another piece of bacon. Hotch sits down at the head of the table, you hadn’t even realized that all of you left that space open until he sat down. Rossi was at the other end and on either side of him were Morgan and Blake. JJ was across from you and Spencer was between you and Morgan. If Garcia had been there she would have sat across from Reid. It was weird but you all seemed to know that Hotch and Rossi deserved the ends. Mom and dad. You smile to yourself.   
“What’s that about?” Hotch asks you gesturing at your smile.   
“Nothing.”   
“Oh come on.” JJ prods.   
“I just think it’s interesting where we all sat. Without even thinking about it we left the head of the table open for you,” you nod at Hotch, “And Rossi. Derek is at Rossi’s right hand and JJ is at yours and in my time with this group I’ve noticed that Morgan and Rossi work best together and you and JJ work best together while Blake and Reid are the most fluid.”   
“So Garcia would be in the middle seat there because?” Morgan asks.   
“She likes to be surrounded by you all.”  
“And you’re over there because?”   
“It was the only open seat.” You tease, “I think it’s because I work mostly with JJ and Hotch. I’m the mouthpiece now and JJ was the best so if I ever need help on wording I ask her and Hotch is the one that I report most to.”   
“We might just make a profiler out of her yet.” Rossi says and you look down the table at him.   
“You guys really aren’t that hard to read after spending 90% of the year with you.” You laugh.   
“That’s true. We all have our tells.” Reid says, “Not that we will ever share those otherwise we’d never be able to know what the others were thinking.”  
There’s a chorus of murmured agreement and the group descends into comfortable conversation.


	4. Chapter 4

You honestly enjoy the day off with the team. Not that you thought you wouldn’t it’s just that you never had spent time with them outside of work. The day passes quickly, faster than you would have imagined it would. Spencer trounces you four times in chess before you call it quits. You roam the bookshelf looking for something to read, not finding anything of real interest you drop down onto the couch your head landing next to Hotch with a sigh.   
“Bored?” He asks glancing down at you from the file he’s reading with one of those half smiles he always seems to give you.   
“How could you tell?” You ask sarcastically. He glances at his watch, then back at you, “We could get started on dinner if you want.”   
“Oh my god yes.” You say and Hotch tosses the files onto the coffee table then stands and reaches down for your hands. He pulls you up off the couch, holding your hands a little longer than was necessary. He leads you into the kitchen and you start opening different cupboards to see what you have. Hotch is in the fridge and freezer doing the same.  
“We have frozen pizza.”  
“We can do better than that.” You say glancing over at him with a smile.   
“We have some chicken.”  
“We could do a stir fry.”  
“Do you have a recipe that you use?” He asks.   
“We need soy sauce, garlic, broccoli, mushrooms, peas, and the chicken. If we have rice or noodles we will need those.”   
“The only vegetable we don’t have is garlic.” He starts to pull the other ingredients out of the fridge.   
“We have soy sauce?” You say surprised.   
“Yea,” he passes it to you with the frozen chicken. “What’s the plan for the chicken?”  
“Pop it in some warm water. It should thaw quickly enough.” An hour and a half later the two of you have a meal ready and on the table. Cooking with Aaron was fun, and the meal was really good. Luckily Reid and Morgan offered to clean up so you didn’t have to, dishes were your least favorite chores. After everything is done from dinner Morgan comes into the living room where most of you are hanging out and produces a movie from behind his back.   
“Look what I found.” He says with a grin, looking closer you see that it’s a horror movie and you groan. “What’s up Hot Stuff? You not into horror movies?” Morgan teases.   
“You are? Don’t you see enough horrible shit in this job?”  
“Yea.” He laughs, “But this is all fake. It’s fun scary.” You just wrinkle your nose in response. “Don’t worry Hot Stuff. I’ll protect you.” He flirts and you scoff.   
“More like scare me at the right moment.”  
“Ouch Hot Stuff. I thought you trusted me.”  
“With my life. But I also know you, I’m not in any real danger so you are not to be trusted.”  
“Fine.” He sighs then smirks, “Maybe Hotch will protect you.”   
“At least I can trust him not to scare me.” You shoot a look at Hotch and see him looking at you innocently. “I hope.” The left side of his mouth quirks up slightly.   
“I won’t.” He promises and you grin over at at Morgan triumphantly.   
“So let’s do this!” Morgan says setting up the DVD player, Reid shuts his book and JJ comes over to the couch. You turn sideways, throwing your legs over Hotch’s lap and onto JJ’s. This way you can have one eye on Morgan at the end of the couch and one eye on the movie. The first murder causes you to wince and turn your face into Hotch’s shoulder. You feel him shift and an arm curls behind your back. “Tell me when it’s over.” You whisper into him, he nods and you’re grateful that he’s got your back.


	5. Chapter 5

You somehow fell asleep during the movie. You had spent most of it tucked into Hotch’s shoulder, gore was really not your favorite. If you had to be scared you would much rather watch something suspenseful. You wake as Hotch is setting you down onto something soft, your bed?   
“What?” You say confused.   
“Shhh.” He says quietly, “You crashed hard during the movie and I didn’t have the heart to wake you. JJ is already asleep.”  
“What time is it?”   
“Around 1:30.” His face is close to yours, you feel his breath slide across your cheek.   
“Oh god. Derek took pictures didn’t he?”  
“Yea. Only a couple.” Hotch chuckles quietly. “He’s already sent them to Garcia.”  
“Damn him.” You can sort of see Hotch in the darkness, “Why didn’t you stop him?”  
“He was very stealthy. And I may have dozed off not long after you did.” He admits.   
“Well at least he didn’t scare me. Thanks for that.” You hope he can hear the smile in your voice because there’s no way he can see it.   
“No problem. It was kind of nice feeling needed.” You’re surprised that he would admit something like that. Hotch is normally so stoic. Maybe it’s the fact that he’s protected by the darkness. You know that’s what it is for you when you reach for his face and run a finger along his jaw. That’s when he leans down and kisses you softly. It takes you a second to process what is happening but then you kiss him back. It’s not an intense, earth-shattering kiss but it’s perfect. Exactly what you would have hoped from Hotch. He pulls away then and whispers, “Good night.”  
“Yea,” You say, lips tingling, “Night.”

The next morning you’re one of the first ones awake. You change into the workout gear you keep in your bag and grab a towel. There’s some really great space behind the couch for some yoga. You just started yoga a few years ago and actually really loved it. You were upside down in a headstand when Morgan comes out of his room.   
“Woah.” He laughs. “Mornin’.” You give a breathy laugh in response. “I didn’t know you did yoga.”  
“Yup. Shh.” You say, your shirt has slipped down and you’re pretty sure that your sports bra is showing. You’re not quite done with your routine so you don’t want to talk quite yet. Two more doors pop open but since you’re upside down you don’t know who it is. You move your legs down slowly into a figure eight position. Two minutes later you roll down to the floor and exhale one last time.   
“Impressive.” Blake says as you enter the kitchen. Morgan, Hotch, Blake and Reid are all in the kitchen, Reid is already three quarters through a book and only half way through a leftover pancake. “How long have you been studying yoga?”   
“A couple years. It helps with the stress from this job. I try to practice every day but you never know.” You say pouring a glass of orange juice.   
“I didn’t know you had your belly button pierced.” Morgan comments over his cup of coffee.   
“It was a dare.” You laugh. “My roommate had to pay for it.”  
“So your belly button and some tattoos. You’re turning out to be quite the rebel.” Morgan laughs and you roll your eyes.   
“Everyone has their rebellious stages. Right?”   
“Yea. Is yours still going on cuz I noticed some new ink.”  
“My airplane.” You laugh, it’s on the side of your foot, he must have seen it coming out of his room. “What about you? I know you’ve got some ink.”   
“A few. Nothing new though.” He snags a piece of bacon off of Reid’s plate and Reid doesn’t even notice. You dig in the fridge for some food and come out with the plate of pancakes and the container that has the hash browns in it. Heating them up in the microwave, you plop down across from Reid and watch as Morgan steals another piece of bacon without Reid noticing. You can’t help but laugh, Reid never looks up. You glance over at Hotch and he’s watching you with a smile on his face. You grin as Blake slips two pieces of bacon onto Reid’s plate. He grabs one not realizing that anything has happened.


	6. Chapter 6

Around four a crew of people come to the cabin to start digging you all out. They’re efficient and have a path cleared out both doors within the hour. They get to work on digging out the four snow mobiles. You watch them through the window, that’s when you notice a man walking toward the cabin. He’s wearing a uniform and a badge, “Hotch.” You call from your post at the window. “We’ve got company.” He comes to the window next to you brushing your lower back with a hand.  
“Sheriff?”  
“I think so.” The man knocks on the door and Hotch pulls it open.   
“I’m Sheriff Mike Donald.” He reaches a hand out to Hotch.   
“SSA Hotchner, this is our Communications Liaison Lauren Williams.”  
“It’s nice to put a face to a name.” You say reaching your hand out.   
“Pleasure.” He shakes your hand. “We’ve got most of the houses dug out. You all were one of our last places.”   
“Any casualties?” You ask.   
“Thankfully no. We were pretty well prepared. The station, fire department and hospital were the first places cleared out.”   
“Anything from the UnSub?” Reid calls from the living room.   
“UnSub?”  
“Forgive me sheriff.” You say with a smile. “This is the team. SSA Morgan, Rossi and Jareau and Dr’s Reid and Blake.”   
“Pleasure.” He says again nodding at the team.  
“An UnSub is the unknown subject or the killer.”   
“No nothing since before the storm.” The sheriff confirms.   
“Alright team. Let’s move out in thirty.” Hotch says and everyone moves into action. You all bundle up in your winter clothes and before you head out the door Hotch catches your arm.   
“Oh shoot, do you need your sweater back?”  
“No. Just wanted to talk to you.”  
“About?”  
“Do you remember what happened last night?” He asks quietly.   
“Yes.”  
“Good.”   
“Is that all Hotch?”  
“No, I’m going to have Morgan bring you to the station. You’re going to run point from there.”  
“Ok.” You go to leave and Hotch calls after you.   
“Lauren?” You turn to look back at him. “Stay warm, or I’ll have to warm you up again.”  
“Well now that you tempted me don’t be surprised if I end up with a mild case of hypothermia again.” You flirt as you head out of the cabin to meet Morgan.


	7. Chapter 7

Morgan comes and gets you around 11. It doesn’t look much different out than it did when you left the cabin at 6 but that’s because Alaska is stuck in perpetual twilight this time of year.   
“Hey Hot Stuff let’s go!” Morgan calls as you hurry out of the small station. You yank the helmet on then climb on behind him. Morgan drives fast, he always drives fast, but on the back of a snowmobile it almost feels like you’re flying. He pulls into the small overhang and you climb off the back with shaking legs. You’re not entirely sure if they’re shaking from fear or cold, either way getting into the warm cabin is a huge relief. The team spends most of the night bouncing in and out of the cabin. You make the frozen pizzas for when people can grab a bite but for the most part you work on press releases and keeping communication with the local PD and the team running smoothly. It’s nearly three in the morning before the team comes back, there’s been no sign of the UnSub since the storm and you’re wondering how long you’ll stick around this snow covered town before the team has to call it quits and head back to Quantico. From the grim expression on Hotch’s face its not going to be long enough. No one stays up when they get back, each being beckoned to the warmth of their beds. Rossi is the last one back, he locks the cabin door when he comes in, nods at you then goes to the room he’s sharing with Reid. You click off the last couple of lights and follow his example crawling under your covers and into a content sleep.  
The next time you wake up it’s pitch black in the room. Even the light from the alarm clock between you and JJ is missing. And it’s cold. Why is it so cold? Like you’re sleeping in your car with the heat off in the dead of winter cold. You reach an arm out for your phone to check the time and see that it’s not charging. This isn’t good.   
“JJ.” You say loudly. “JJ wake up.”  
“What?” She mumbles.   
“JJ the generator is off. We don’t have any heat. We need to wake everyone up or we could all freeze to death.” That seems to get her attention. “You go to Alex and Morgan. I’ll go to Reid, Rossi and Hotch.” You yank your boots off the floor and pull them on under the covers. “JJ!”  
“Okay okay.” She groans but follows your lead and begins to bundle up. You pull on the first long sleeve shirt you can find and turn the flashlight on your gun on. Moving out of the room you pound on Reid and Rossi’s door then enter.   
“Get up. The generator isn’t working.” You’re most worried about Reid, he’s so skinny. “Reid!” You snap, he starts to move, pulling more clothing on. Rossi does the same all while glaring at you, granted you can’t see his glare but you most definitely can feel it. “Knock it off Rossi.” You say as you leave their room to go to wake Hotch.   
“Hotch.” You say entering his room. He springs up gun in hand pointed at you. “It’s me. Hotch it’s Lauren. It’s Lauren.”   
“Sorry.” He lowers the gun, “What’s wrong?”  
“Generator is out. Everyone is getting up. We need to move some furniture in the living room and use the fireplace.”  
“Yep.” Hotch says as he starts to pull on more clothes. He grabs the blankets off of his bed and a pillow. “Get your blankets and pillow and meet in the living room.”  
“I’ll tell everyone else.” You say as you move out of his room.


	8. Chapter 8

“Hotch what are we doin?” Morgan asks sleepily.   
“We’re sleeping in here. Fire, all the blankets, it’s gonna be fun like a sleepover.” You can’t help but smile.   
“You’ve gotta be kidding me.” Morgan groans. “I am not cuddling up next to Reid.”  
“We can sleep boy girl.” You say rolling your eyes. You put another log on the fire and throw down your pillow and blankets. Hotch puts his stuff to the left of yours and Morgan drops his stuff to your right.   
“Fine.” He sighs.  
“I am not sleeping on the floor.” Rossi complains.   
“Fine. We can grab the three full beds and a twin.” Hotch says. The group of you have the mattresses out quickly. You’re still curled up between Hotch and Morgan. JJ is next with Reid on her other side followed by Blake and Rossi. You’re laying on your back, well aware of how close you are to Hotch, wanting to curl into him but not sure if he would be okay with it. You sigh and Morgan drops his head down onto your shoulder.   
“Hey Hot Stuff.” He whispers loudly. “If you’re still cold you can scoot over here.”  
“Morgan. Shut the hell up.” Rossi calls from the far side of the beds. Blake and Morgan laugh and you scoot away from him. You bump into Hotch when you roll over. You go to move away from him when he stops you with a gentle hand on your arm. He slowly slides his arm under your body and puts his hand on the small of your back. Holding your body against the side of his, you use his shoulder as a pillow and start to drift off. At least until you hear the sound of a gun being cocked not far above your head. The shot rings out close. Too close.  
For half a second you’re sure that Hotch is dead. Then he moves and you remember how to breathe.   
“Everyone okay?” JJ asks sounding concerned.  
“The UnSub’s down.” Hotch responds.  
“And I think I’m deaf.” You add.   
“I think we found out how he was getting them all in one room.” Reid says calmly as Morgan crawls over you to the downed UnSub.   
“He’s dead.” He says after feeling for a pulse. “Lauren call this in.”  
“On it.” You give Hotch’s hand a squeeze as you head for one of the charging satellite phones. You call the sheriff and he promises to come out with everyone you need, less than twenty minutes, and when you explain the lack of power he also agrees to bring out some battery operated lanterns. Sure enough twenty minutes later the sheriff arrives with the calvary, they clear out the body of a young man and someone takes a look at the generator, which has been smashed beyond repair. How did you all sleep through that? Hotch looks troubled. He always does after he kills someone, you know he’d never admit it but it always hits him hard. You move toward him quietly, you don’t want to startle him but you need him to know you’re grateful. You touch his shoulder as you walk up behind him. He doesn’t even turn around, just reaches his opposite hand up and rests it on yours. You slowly move closer, sliding your other hand from his side to wrap it around his stomach and resting your forehead against the base of his neck. Closing your eyes you don’t say anything for a while. Just soak up the feeling of him.   
“Are you okay?” You ask softly.   
“Are you?”  
“Hotch.” You’re not letting him turn this around. He sighs and you wait.   
“I’m okay.”  
“Good.”  
“How are you ears?”  
“What?”   
“How are-” he starts before you feel him chuckle. “You got me there.” You move so your chin is resting on his shoulder.  
“I know how much you hate that part of the job. But you didn’t have a choice. He was going to kill you.”  
“I was more worried about you.” He says so softly that you almost don’t hear him.   
“Hotch.” You mutter and he turns his head. You kiss him. You don’t care if the team sees. You don’t care if it’s unprofessional. You want him to know exactly how you feel about him. He kisses you back, his lips coaxing yours apart and his tongue slips in between them his hand has wrapped around the back of your head anchoring you to him. You smile against his lips when you hear Rossi call, “Atta boy Aaron!” You pull away with a breathy laugh as the rest of the team breaks into applause.


End file.
